Monday, March 31, 2014

A quick and fairly linear dungeon for use in what may be my first eventual Carcosa game.
To escape the War Apes of Carcosa, the heroes must flee through the tunnels under the Zhornavog Mountians. Therein they will pass the Vaults of Man--thirteen crypts that hold the remains of a hero from each race of man. Two bridges span the Chasm of Eyes, a mighty abyss from which stare giant inhuman eyes. Watch out for the cyber-snail!

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Last night, my Skype gaming group wanted to play something, and none of us had any solid ideas. We decided to adapts some of our old Spirit of the Century characters to Fate Accelerated, and I said I'd run a quick scenario. In a few minutes I had written up Lord Roboticus, mechanical menace of Mars. I started the scenario with the PC Centurions (Boomarang Jack and Xor: Champion of Mu) midair, falling off a cliff towards the monster-filled river far below while Lord Roboticus and his Cog minions gloated from above. We proceeded from there with about an hour of crazy pulp stunts and martial arts. Here's our villain...Lord RoboticusLord Roboticus is an 8-foot-tall robot with red, triangular eyes a large black cape. His dome holds the brains of the six most evil villains in Mars's history, melded into an evil genius gestalt.

High Concept: Evil
Robot Warlord

Trouble:
Grandiose

Other
Aspects: The six most evil
brains on Mars

I like to doodle while I run games.

Approaches

Careful +3

Clever +5

Flashy +2

Forceful +4

Quick +1

Sneaky +0

Stunts

Because
I swing a massive energy axe, I get +2 when I forcefully attack an
opponent in melee combat.

Because
I have rockets in my feet, once per session I can leave a scene, even
in the middle of a conflict, without making a concession, as long as
I could fly out of there.

Stress:
OOOO

Cogs

The Cogs are Roboticus's mechanical henchmen. They are spherical metal robots with spindly arms and legs with a single red eye in the center of their boxy heads. They left arms end in dish-shaped death-ray emitters.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Over on Google Plus, +Matthew Bannock is having an Steampunk RPG deigns contest."The main objective is to create a table top role playing game with a distinctively steampunk feel. The bonus objectives include using a deck of cards, and having an optional Pocket Mod format."

These are the kinds of challenges I like, and limitations often lead to creativity. I've been brainstorming this idea for a couple of weeks, and I now I'm going to squeak in on the next to last day with my card-based pocketmod steampunk RPG, Steampunkery.

Download the Pocketmod PDF of STEAMPUNKERY Here!The complete text is directly below. If I get enough interest, I might expand on it later. Enjoy! "Rock out with your cogs out!"STEAMPUNKERYBy Joshua LH BurnettAbout the gameYou play a sexy-dangerous badass in Faux-Britannia, a world of high-romance, adventure, and crazy steam-powered supertech.What you needThis booklet, a deck of cards without jokers (for the players), some tokens (for the GM), paper and pencils.

Your Character

Concept

Describe your character in just a couple of words. Your high concept is what you “do” in the world. It's your job, your character class, your archetype.

There are four Suits that describe the techniques, skills, and approaches you use to overcome challenges. You will have a Strong Suit, which you are very good with, and a Weak Suit, that you're not very good with at all. Each Suit corresponds to a suit in the card deck.

Steam (Diamonds)

Use Steam when you solve a problem using science and technology, especially crazy steam-powered retro-romantic technology.

Use Punk when you solve a problem using direct, aggressive, physical action.

Examples: Leaping a chasm, punching a guy, wrestling a bear

Grace (Hearts)

Use Grace when you solve a problem subtlety, charm, guile, and charisma.

Examples: Seducing a guard, sneaking into a building, impressing the Queen

Wit (Clubs)

Use Wit when you solve a problem using brains, occupational training, and education.

Examples: Identifying a poison, breaking a code, performing surgery

Choose one of these Suits as your Strong Suit and mark it with a star. You will be extra-competent with your Strong Suit. Chose another as your Weak Suit and put a line through it. You will never be able to take actions related to your Weak Suit.

Name

Come up with a name and write it down. Make it fancy, heroic, and/or distinctive!

Roleplaying is a conversation between the GM and the players. The GM describes what is going on and asks the players how they respond. The GM describes what happens as a result of the players' actions, and the conversation continues. Dungeon World, Apocalypse World, and Monsterhearts, describe this in detail. Check out those games.

At the start of every adventure, the players will draw a hand of 5 cards from the deck. This hand size might grow or shrink as your character suffers failures and achieve successes. If the players go through all the cards in the deck, reshuffle the discards. The GM never uses cards.

Occasionally a character (PC or NPC) will do something that another character doesn't want to happen. When that happens we have a Challenge.

Challenges

Depending on how difficult the challenge is, the GM will draw 1-8 Challenge Tokens

The GM describes the scene and what is happening and asks the players “What do you do?”

One or more players describe what actions their characters are taking, and what Suit they are using.

The player plays cards from his hand, trying to get a total of 11.

If they character's Concept would help them with this action, they can discard and redraw as many cards from their hand as they'd like, all at once, before playing their cards.

Aces count as 1.

Face cards count as 11.

If your action falls under your Strong Suit, you can play cards from any suit (even your Weak one), as long as you play at least one card from your Strong Suit.

If your action falls under a Suit that is neither Strong or Weak, you can only play cards from that specific suit.

You cannot undertake actions that fall under your Weak Suit. You'll have to find another way to overcome the Challenge.

If you make 11 with...

1 card: You succeed with exceptional style. The GM looses 2 Challenge Tokens. If you used your Strong Suit with this action, your hand size increases by 1.

2 cards: You succeed and get closer to your goal. The GM looses 1 challenge token.

3 or more cards: You succeed at cost. The GM loses a Challenge Token, and you reduce your hand size by 1.

If you cannot make 11 at all: You suffer failure. The GM doesn't lose any Challenge Tokens, and you reduce your hand size by 1. Discard your entire hand.

Draw cards from the deck to refill your hand after each play.

If the GM looses all their Challenge Tokens, then the PCs have overcome the challenge.

If a PC's hand size is reduced to 0, they are out of the game―dead, comatose, captured, or too depressed to continue.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

I talked about Funky Frank a couple of month ago. I've continued to work on the project as time allows, and I get more excited about it which each new development. Bellow you'l find the stunt options for the remaining monster types. My next step will be to fully describe each monster type and discus what kinds of benefits and drawbacks come from having Aspects related to them.

Blob

Because I am made of jelly, I get +2 to when I forcefully defend against blunt trauma.

Because I am made of jelly, I get +2 to Carefully Overcome Obstacles when my malleable form comes in handy.

Because I can exude lots of pseudopods, I get +2 when I Forcefully attack groups of nameless mooks in close combat.

Killbot

Because I am armor plated, once per session I can ignore all stress from any one attack.

Because I have built-in machine guns, I get +2 when I Quickly Attack a group of nameless extras.

Because I am a hulking mechanical monster, I get +2 when I Forcefully Attack in a social conflict though pure intimidation.

Skeleton

Because I am fleshless, I get +2 when I quickly defend against blades and bullets.

Because I am quick and light on my feet bones, once per session I can choose to go first in any exchange.

Because am very thin and can detach my bones, I get +2 when I carefully Overcome Obstacles when I am trying to get into or out of tight places.

Zombie

Because I can eat brains, once per session, I can recall the last memories of the person whose brain I just ate.

Because you can’t keep me out forever, I get +2 when I forcefully overcome obstacles when I’m trying to get somewhere I shouldn’t be.

Because I’m already dead, I can take an extra minor physical consequence.

Mummy

Because I can wrap people up in my animated bandages, I get +2 when I quickly Create an Advantage, when I try and put “Entangled” or a similar aspect on an opponent.

Because I possess an aura of kingship, I get a +2 when I flashily Overcome Obstacles in social conflicts.

Because I am solar powered, once per session I can instantly remove a minor consequence by standing fully in the sunlight.

Mothman

Because I can see in four dimensions, once per session I can automatically see through or inside any solid object.

Because I can flutter about on my wings, I get +2 when I Quickly Overcome Obstacles where flying would be useful.

Because I produce friendly pheromones, I get +2 when I sneakily Create an Advantage when I make a first impression.

Troll

Because I can regenerate my flesh, Once per session I can automatically clear out my stress track.

Because I have a sense of smell that can’t be beat, I get +2 when I carefully overcome obstacles when my sensitive nose would be an asset.

Because I have pebbly, stony skin, I get +2 when I forcefully defend against attacks with weapons.

Sasquatch

Because I am quiet and good at camouflage, I get +2 when I Sneakily Create an Advantage when I am trying to remain unseen.

Because you wouldn't like me when I’m angry, once per session, as long as I currently suffer a consequence, when I force someone to take a physical consequence I can force them to take a consequence one step higher.

Because my people have good publicity, I get +2 when I carefully Create an Advantage when dealing with humans.

Goblin

Because I am small and wily, I get +2 when I quickly defend against attacks from opponents larger than me.

Because I can disappear in the blink of an eye, once per session I can leave any scene, even in the middle of conflict.

Because I have a knack for tinkering, I get a +2 when I cleverly Create an Advantage when building, repairing, or modifying machinery.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Come explore Archangel System, named for the binary suns that shine their blue light through this mysterious part of space! Make landfall on Ruben's Planet or scavenge for supplies in the Rocketship Graveyard. Explore the monster-haunted moons of Echidna and Her Children. Once past The Iron Wall asteroid field, you can explore the abandoned Wayfare Station, harvest the metallic vapors of Lucinda, or investigate the alien ruins in the wastelands of Oorp and Pulu. What mysteries hide within the Space God's Skull? Avoid the Hungry Cloud as you approach Warp Gate #9, whose destination remains a mystery to all sane spacers!

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Who I Am

I am a long-time gamer who enjoys both new-style story games and old-style OSR stuff. I love drawing maps and goofy monsters. I help write, layout, and illustrate games for Hex Games, and I keep taking stabs at creating webcomics with mixed results. I talk about RPGs (and other things) at my Bernie the Flumph blog.